Chinese Orange Chicken

This is amazing. It's time consuming, so I only make it occasionally. But it is the best orange chicken you'll ever have. I found the recipe here.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless, chicken breast halves, diced into 1 - 1 1/2-inch pieces

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 Tbsp finely grated orange zest (zest of 1 1/2 fairly large oranges)

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/3 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp dried ginger

2 Tbsp grated yellow onion (be sure to get some of the juices when measuring)

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tsp Sriracha hot sauce (optional)

Freshly ground black or white pepper, to taste

1 1/4 cups + 2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp cold water

2 large eggs

vegetable or peanut oil, for frying

chopped green onions and sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)

Directions

Place chicken pieces in a gallon size resealable bag, set aside. In a medium saucepan combine chicken broth, orange zest, orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, granulated sugar, ginger, yellow onion, garlic, Sriracha and pepper. Whisk mixture well, then measure out 2/3 cup of the mixture and pour it over the chicken in resealable bag. Seal bag while pressing excess air out, and press chicken into marinade. Place bag in a bowl or baking dish and refrigerate 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, return remaining sauce mixture over medium heat and bring mixture just to a boil, stirring frequently. In a small bowl whisk together 2 Tbsp cornstarch with 2 Tbsp water then stir mixture into sauce. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 1 - 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly, until thickened, remove from heat.

Pour vegetable oil into a large cast iron dutch oven, filling pot about 1 1/2 - 2-inches deep and heat oil to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a shallow dish until well blended. Pour remaining 1 1/4 cups cornstarch into a separate shallow dish. Remove chicken from refrigerator and drain and discard marinade from chicken. Dip chicken pieces into egg followed by cornstarch and toss pieces to evenly coat in cornstarch, then carefully place 1/3 of the chicken pieces into preheated oil and cook for 5 - 7 minutes until golden, turning once during cooking. 

Using skimmer, remove fried chicken from oil and transfer to a paper towel lined cookie sheet to drain excess oil. Repeat process with remaining chicken working in two more batches. Pour drained fried chicken into a bowl and toss with sauce. Serve warm over white or brown rice garnished with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.

Doug's Recommended Cold Oriental Noodle Salad

From cooks.com

Says Doug: "This is a good food for summer, where you want cold foods. You cut the scrambled eggs and cucumbers into very thin strips and eat them with chilled noodles. Delicious!"

8 oz. dried somen noodles
1 tbsp. sesame seed oil
1 lb. shrimp, shelled & deveined
1 tsp. oil
1 egg, beaten
1 Japanese cucumber, thinly sliced
Oriental Dressing (see below)

Cook noodles in boiling water 3 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally; drain. Place noodles in a large bowl and toss lightly with sesame oil; cover and refrigerate. Cook shrimp in boiling water for 2 minutes. Place in ice water, then pat dry and refrigerate.In a small skillet heat oil, pour in egg and make a thin sheet of scrambled egg. Cut into strips. Arrange noodles, shrimp, egg and cucumber on serving platter. Accompany with Oriental Dressing.

ORIENTAL DRESSING:

1/4 c. rice vinegar
2 tbsp. shoyu
4 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp. minced ginger
1/2 tsp. minced garlic

Combine all ingredients; mix well. Makes 1/2 cup.

Southwest Pasta Salad

Heather shared this on the Stay's recipe blog a while ago and we just tried it. Steve and I loved it, the kids didn't really like it. I halved the recipe and it made a ton for us. I did not half the dressing.

She added this: I put *asterisks* around ingredients I usually leave out and {brackets} around ingredients I like to add

Cook 1 pound tricolor pasta until al dente; do not overcook

In a large bowl, combine the pasta with

½ cup finely chopped red onions

*½ green pepper, finely chopped*

1 cup frozen or canned corn(I just use a whole can of corn)

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 small can chopped green chili peppers (sometimes I leave these out and it's still good)

1 15 oz. can kidney beans, or black beans rinsed and drained (I still use the whole can, even when I half the recipe)

4 ounces cubed or shredded cheese (cheddar, taco mix, or colby jack works well)

{half to a whole avocado}

{one or two tomatoes, or some salsa}

{one or two whole green onions}

{chopped black olives}

{some chicken that I stir fried in garlic powder, chili powder, and oregano)

Whisk together these sauce ingredients in small bowl and then pour over those in the large bowl

3 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp chicken or vegetable broth

5 Tbsp white-wine vinegar

3 Tbsp tomato sauce (or spaghetti sauce)

2 cloves minced garlic

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

I took all the about-to-go-bad ingredients from our fridge this week and put them in a pot with a few other ingredients. Lo and behold, it turned out tasting pretty great! (This is according to Rachel, not just me, so yes you can trust that assessment.)

Ingredients:

One bunch of fresh dill, chopped fine

One bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped rough
One medium brown onion, halved, then sliced the other direction to make a bunch of c-shaped onion pieces
6-8 oz of fresh button mushrooms, sliced
1 medium tomato, smashed
Two cups of white rice
1T butter
2 t vegetable oil
1 bouillon cube, vegetable or chicken (I actually used some leftover packets of flavoring from two kinds of ramen noodles, but I think the boullion cube would approximate it pretty well)
In a separate sauce pan, melt the tablespoon of butter on medium heat
Add the dill, cilantro, and bouillon, then sautee the onions and mushrooms for three minutes.
Add the cooked rice and vegetable oil, and mix well.

Directions:

-Cook the rice

-In a separate sauce pan, melt the tablespoon of butter on medium heat
-Add the dill, cilantro, tomato, and bouillon to the butter, then sautee the onions and mushrooms in it for three minutes.
-Add the cooked rice and vegetable oil to the sauce pan, and mix well.